Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year and a half you will have no doubt failed to avoid the growing popularity of the ‘tablet’.

Tablets are mobile computers that act in a similar manner to smart phones, except for the fact that they are larger and in many ways bridge the gap between a mobile phone and a laptop.

Uses for a tablet vary depending on the version, however generally uses include reading books, answering emails, browsing the Internet, catching-up on television programmes and playing games.

With the popularity of the tablet steadily increasing by the day, more and more versions of the tablet are becoming available. Here at Virgin Digital Help we have investigated some of the most popular tablets around at the moment and below we have provided our thoughts.

iPad

Released in April 2010, Apple’s iPad went on to sell an extraordinary 3 million devices in 80 days, paving the way for a huge number of copycat devices to go on sale.

With the release of the iPad 2 in March 2011, the iPad is still the bestselling tablet thanks to its wealth of apps and 10 hours of playtime.

• Recommended for: Apps, aesthetics.

Galaxy Tablet

Many tablets run various variations of Google’s Android operation system, an example being Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

The first Android powered tablet, the Galaxy has a 7 inch TFT-LCD touch screen and supports phone call functionality, as well as offering 7 hours of playback time and 10 hours of call time.

• Recommended for: Apps, face to face calls, travelling (thanks to its slim frame).

Blackberry Playbook

A tablet computer created by Research in Motion, the Blackberry playbook boasts a 7 inch screen, with a clear and easy to use interface that makes multi-tasking extremely easy.

Although the tablet has a significantly less amount of apps available in comparison to its competitors, RIM claims that at its time of release there were an additional 3,000 apps submitted to the Blackberry App World.

• Recommended for: Emails, viewing spreadsheets and word processing files.